Thursday, April 18, 2013 -- Change Me From The Inside Out (1)
Thursday April 18, 2013
King David lied, cheated, committed adultery and murder. At other times he acted with forgiveness, with respect, with kindness and with generosity. He was known to be “a man after God’s own heart.” David longed for a life in close relationship with God. On many occasions we can read where he reflected on his own life, on God’s character and the gap between those two expressions of life. He was well aware that there were character defects in his life that needed to be removed.
David asked the question, "Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?" (Psalm 15:1 NLT) David wanted to do whatever it took to get as close to God as He could because he knew that’s where life was best lived. The answer to David’s question came in the next sentence and it was the removal of all his defects of character. “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.” (Psalm 15:2 NLT)
David wanted to be a person whose life others could look at and have no cause to blame him or find fault with how he acted. David wanted to live free from character defects, not some, not just those it was convenient to release, but all. This involved areas of personal integrity, his relationship with God, and his relationship with others. They included: “Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever. (Psalm 15:3-5 NLT) Are we ready to speak the truth at all times to God, to ourselves and to others? We make a good start when we clear the wreckage of our past through confession. However, one of the first places many people stumble in recovery is maintaining honesty about what is actually going on in their head and heart. They avoid sharing their current anxieties with God, with their sponsor or counselor, or with someone who has walked with God for a while. After having lived a lifetime of denial and deception that wasn’t only about addictive behaviour, the familiar thing now is to avoid our true feelings and not seek the help we need. For many of us this started with our unwillingness or our inability to acknowledge fear, sadness, pain, or frustration and deal with it. To live well in recovery we must now allow God to help us acknowledge these very issues in our life and help us deal with them His way.
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